A recently widowed poet was among those who gave readings about death for Dying Matters Week.

The event, which took place at Waterstones in Islington, saw wordsmiths and brave audience members read poems covering topics from “How Close Death is to us in Life” and “Life After Death.”

Opened by Ruth Valentine and Martha Kapos, whose husband died just 18 months ago, the evening was part of Islington Word Festival, which has been running throughout May.

The event, which was run by Age UK project Future Matters, was one of thousands taking place across the country from May 12 to 18 – as part of a national initiative to encourage people to live well and die well.

Debbie Young, Future Matters programme manager, said: “Death is the second most common theme in poetry, after love, and so it seemed fitting to use poetry as a way of raising awareness of this subject, and starting the conversation.”